King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Birthday Anniversary

Until 13 October 2016, 5 December had long been celebrated as the King Bhumibol Adulyadej ’s Birthday, as well as being marked as Father’s Day in Thailand. As of 2017, though, the King’s Birthday public holiday has moved to 28 July, the birthday of new King Vajiralongkorn, or King Rama X. Nevertheless, 05 December remains an important public holiday in remembrance of King Bhumibol, and is now known as King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Birthday Anniversary.

You probably will see many Thai people post the following phrases on their social media:

คิดถึงพ่อสุดหัวใจ

/kít-tŭeng pâw sùt hŭa-jai/

I am missing the late King from the bottom of my heart.

คิดถึง /kít-tŭeng/

พ่อ / pâw/ literally means “father” and Thai people use this word to refer to the late King.

พ่อหลวงจะอยู่ในหัวใจคนไทยตลอดไป

/pâw-lûang jà yùu nai hŭa-jai kon tai dtà-làwd-bpai/

The late King will live in Thai people’s hearts forever.

พ่อหลวง /pâw-lûang/ is one of the many words Thai people use to refer to their late King.

ธ สถิตในดวงใจตราบนิรันดร์

/tá sà-tìt nai duang-jai dtràab ní-run/

or

ธ สถิตในดวงใจนิรันดร

/tá sà-tìt nai duang-jai ní-run-dawn/

His Majesty will live in our hearts eternally.

ธ is read ทะ/tá/ which means “ท่าน” /tâan/. This is a pronoun used to refer to the royal family members.